Congresswoman wants Kelly apology as spat with Trump endures

Washington — A Florida congresswoman on Sunday asked White House chief of staff John Kelly to apologise for making false claims about her while defending President Donald Trump's handling of condolences to a military family.

Her comments and the president's insulting tweets escalated a political fight surrounding the deaths of four service members in the African nation of Niger.

Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson on Sunday called Kelly a "puppet of the president" and accused him of character assassination for asserting that she was grandstanding at a building dedication in the memory of two slain FBI agents in 2015.

Kelly said Wilson talked about how she had been the driving force behind raising money for the building, but a video of her remarks contradicted his account.

The four US soldiers were killed October 4 in Niger when they were attacked by militants tied to the Islamic State.

Wilson, speaking on MSNBC's "AM Joy", also criticised what she described as a lack of information from the Trump administration about the ambush.

Trump again criticised her early on Sunday, describing Wilson on Twitter as "the gift that keeps on giving for the Republican Party".

The fight began on Tuesday when Trump told the widow of 25-year-old La David Johnson that her husband "knew what he signed up for".

Wilson was riding with the family and heard the call on speakerphone, sharing that comment publicly.

Wacky Congresswoman Wilson is the gift that keeps on giving for the Republican Party, a disaster for Dems. You watch her in action & vote R!

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